Join students from around the world in the heart of Paris to spend a semester challenging yourself in courses across an array of disciplines including Art History, Business, Film, Communications, Politics and Psychology. SAI semester students at AUP select 3 - 5 courses from the range of subjects offered for a total of 12 - 18 credits. Motivated students have the option of adding an SAI Global Leadership Certificate to their AUP semester program.
Application open until: October 1, 2024
Application Requirements
Complete online application
Personal statement (300-500 words)
Official transcript
Passport scan (photo page)
Digital photo (passport style)
EU privacy consent form
Highlights
- Earn a SAI Global Leadership Certificate or International Service Certificate
- Join active student clubs
- 200+ courses taught each semester in a range of disciplines
Program Dates
January 3, 2025 – May 14, 2025
Eligibility Requirements
Age: 18+
Academic Year: Freshman (1st year) or above
* contact SAI if you don’t meet requirements
Please note: The Course Schedule below is provided for informational purposes only. It is based on the previous term’s offering at AUP and may not reflect the final list of spring classes.
Cumulative GPA:* 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
English Language:* Non-native English language speakers must submit TOEFL: 88+ or IELTS: 6.5+, or proof of attending school in English for 3+ years.
Arts and Sciences | Art History & Fine Arts
Arts and Sciences | French & Modern Languages
Arts and Sciences | Gender Studies
Arts and Sciences | Philosophy
Arts and Sciences | Psychology
Business Administration | Business Administration
Business Administration | Entrepreneurship
Business Administration | Finance
Business Administration | International Business Administration
Business Administration | Management
Business Administration | Marketing
Communications | Advertising
Communications | Communications
Communications | Global Communication
Communications | Journalism
Communications | Rhetoric
Communications | Video Production
Communications | Web
Comparative Literature and English | Comparative Literature
Comparative Literature and English | Writing
Computer Science, Mathematics & Science | Computer Science
Computer Science, Mathematics & Science | Environmental Science
Computer Science, Mathematics & Science | Mathematics
Drama | Drama
Economics | Economics
Economics | International Economics
English Literature & Writing | English
English Literature & Writing | Writing
Film Studies | Film Studies
History | History
History | Law & Society
International Comparative Politics | Development and Human Rights
International Comparative Politics | Politics
International Comparative Politics | World Politics
Language | Arabic Language
Language | French Language
Language | Linguistics
This course looks at how culture promotes connections between humans, their landscapes and ecosystems. We will be discussing the different ways humans use, interact, engage and manipulate the natural world that surrounds them. Central to an understanding of this relationship is the meaning people give to the concept of nature. This course will explore the leaning attributed to nature across different cultural contexts and religious traditions.
Socio-cultural anthropology is the comparative study of human societies and cultures. This course is designed to introduce students to central areas of anthropological inquiry, a range of key theoretical perspectives and the disciplines holistic approach. Through field-based research projects, students will also gain familiarity with the disciplines qualitative research methods (especially participant observation). While students will encounter the works of key historical figures in the discipline, they will also discover current debates on globalization and transnationalism. Finally, this course also strives to cultivate students ability to reflect critically on their own identities and cultures, thereby gaining a greater understanding and appreciation for diversity and an improved set of intercultural communication skills.
This course concerns how visual anthropology extends into the domain of virtual, augmented and immersive realities and asks: What are the social and political consequences of these imaging technologies for what reality means in a post-truth world? Traditional approaches to visual anthropology, using the tools of photography and film, have tended to treat subject-object relations within a web of representation that is static and bounded, where the image serves as an archive of empirical truth and the other is witnessed and experienced first-hand. However, we live in an age where reality is more than representation; an age where simulations of events, places and experiences in virtual worlds and immersive environments come to stand as empirical truths. In this course, we will adopt a hybrid theoretical/practical approach to explore case studies ranging from AR/VR journalism of conflict zones to climate change video games, holographic protests, and photogrammetric simulations of forensic investigations. This approach invites students to investigate how facts, truths and perceptions of reality are (re)shaped as well as problematized by the visual cultures of new media.
Introduces the principal arts and aesthetic issues of the 19th and 20th centuries from the French Revolution to World War II. Studies artists such as David, Turner, Monet, and Picasso, as well as movements such as Romanticism, Impressionism, and Surrealism, stressing continuities beneath apparent differences of approach. Regular museum sessions at the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Examines the dynamic and often militant Baroque style in Counter- Reformation Italy and its national variants in France, Spain, and Flanders. Traces the development of new and different modes of expression in the emerging Protestant Netherlands. Explores the evolution from Baroqueto Rococo as well as the arts of the 18th-Century in France and England. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Explores in greater depth the concepts of drawing presented in AR 1010. Concentrates on the study of volume, the construction of shallow and deep space, and the design of shapes and negative space. Working from life provides the main focus; however, drawing from memory and collage develop visual imagination and personal expression. Please note that an additional fee will be charged for this course.
For students who have little or no previous experience. Students learn how to see in three dimensions and work from observation. Mastery of structure and the architecture of form in space are acquired by the building up technique in clay. Work from plaster copies, nude models (male and female), and imagination are followed by an introduction to the carving technique. There is an additional fee in this course for materials.
Uses the unsurpassed richness of the art museums of Paris as the principal teaching resource. The history of Western Art is studied through the close examination of a limited selection of major works in a variety of media. The works chosen illuminate the political, social and religious contexts of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque and Rococo periods, and the modern epoch.
The course has an extra course fee of 25 euros.
A studio course, which provides an introduction to basic drawing problems for the beginning student interested in developing his or hr drawing skills. Subject matter includes still life, portraiture, landscape, and the nude. Mediums introduced are pencil, charcoal, and ink wash. Please note that an additional fee will be charged for this course.
Teaches the skills needed for an informed approach to art and architecture by introducing the salient concepts, techniques, and developments of Western Art. Studies works from ancient Greece, Rome, and the European Middle Ages in their K19 historical, social, and cultural contexts. Includes visits to museums and monuments in and around Paris.
Continues the study of the most significant monuments of Western painting, sculpture, and architecture, from the Renaissance to the 20th- century. Emphasizes historical context, continuity, and critical analysis. Includes direct contact with works of art in Parisian museums.
Techniques of the Masters Lectures, demonstrations, and workshops focus on materials and techniques used by artists over the centuries. Studies the historical background of techniques of drawing, painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts combined with a hands-on approach so that each student can experience the basic elements of the plastic arts. Please note that an additional fee will be charged for this course.
Explores the adaptation of ancient art by the Christian religious establishment and the interaction of early medieval artists with the Graeco-Roman tradition. Follows the development of medieval art in the West to the Gothic period by analyzing its spiritual dimensions and diversity as well as the impact on artistic creation of the changing centers of power and influences.
For students with little or no previous experience in drawing or painting. First analyzes still life objects in basic plastic terms starting with value. Concentrates during each class session on a new painterly quality until a sufficient visual vocabulary is achieved so that more complicated subjects such as the nude can be approached. Work will be done in oil. May be taken twice for credit.
Offers a basic study of visual analysis and contemporary painting techniques. Color theory and its practical application and a solid understanding of painting materials are central to the course. Working from life provides the main focus. Different methods of paint application are introduced, including direct painting, glazing, scumbling, and the use of the palette knife. Please note that an additional fee will be charged for this course.
Investigates the growth patterns of Paris from Roman times though the Second Empire. Studies major monuments, pivotal points of urban design, and vernacular architecture on site. Presents the general vocabulary of architecture, the history of French architecture and urban planning, as well as a basic knowledge of French history to provide a framework for understanding the development of Paris. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
This course focuses on traditional relief printing techniques for the creation of multiple identical images without the use of a printing press. Once the fundamentals are understood, experimentation is encouraged so that each student can learn how to best exploit the different methods to successfully translate sketches into a powerful printed document. In addition to the making of prints, students will study the history of woodblock and metal printing and will be asked to visit and write about several print collections.
This course explores female patronage and representations of gender in the French Renaissance. A long string of powerful women regents and queens (from Anne of France and Anne of Brittany to Catherine de Medici), royal mistresses (including the Duchess of tampes and Diane de Poitiers), and great ladies of the real mare seen to play crucial roles in defining the art and architecture of the age. Women’s contributions are measured against those of men, including King Francis 1st. A study trip is organized to the Loire Valley.
Topics vary by semester.
Topics vary by semester.
Please note that this course may have prerequisites.
The French for International Affairs course is specifically designed for students willing to improve, reinforce and develop their communication skills in French – vocabulary, structures, debate skills and argumentation techniques – focusing on the field of International Relations. The main objectives of this French language course are to offer students the opportunity to: increase their knowledge and information, compare different points of view on the same past or current topic, express and share their point of view in a structured and convincing way, develop their analytical and synthesis skills as well as to reinforce their autonomy in expression.Students with a special interest in international politics, in international relations, in European, African, Middle Eastern Studies and in environmental issues will benefit greatly from this course.
Introduces the methodology of Gender Studies and the theory upon which it is based. Examines contemporary debates across a range of issues now felt to be of world-wide feminist interest: sexuality, reproduction, production, writing, representation, culture, race, and politics. Encourages responsible theorizing across disciplines and cultures. Cross listed with CL 2006*Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Interrogates the concepts of gender and sexuality from a comparative, global perspective, drawing from multiple disciplines such as anthropology, ethnography, philosophy, sociology and history. Engages with questions of inequality, social justice and diversity as they are mapped onto gender and played out in institutional, political and socio-cultural power relations.
This course introduces students to key concepts, theories and texts in the study of gender and media in a global context. By examining a range of media texts, modes of representation and production, we can analyse established patterns of how gender has come to be depicted and constructed by media, but also changes and challenges to these patterns. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of power, discourse and ideology in these contexts. Topics of study will include gender roles, body image, empowerment, spectatorship and performance, sexuality, stereotypes and exploitation; examples will be drawn from media forms including advertising, film, television, journalism and the internet. An overview of important feminist, poststructuralist and queer theories will be central to critical approaches to this material.Cross listed with CM 3053
Studies the nature and causes o individual behavior and thought in social situations. Presents the basic fields of study that compose the science of social psychology, and how its theories impact on most aspects of people’s lives. Topics of study include: conformity, persuasion, mass communication, propaganda, aggression, attraction, prejudice, and altruism.
This course aims to provide a solid and comprehensive grounding in modern philosophy focusing on the main issues and theories of late Renaissance philosophy, modern Rationalism and Empiricism, philosophies of the Enlightenment, Critical philosophy, modern Idealism, Phenomenology and some questions of analytic philosophy. It offers an introduction to the works of the major figures of this tradition.
Political philosophy forms that branch of philosophy that reflects on the specificity of the political. Why are humans, as Aristotle argued, political animals? How are they political? What are the means and ends of the political, and how best does one organize the political with such questions in mind? The course offers a topic-oriented approach to the fundamental problems underlying political theory and practice.
The course focuses on the impact of the emergent discipline of political economy on modern philosophy. A brief overview of the work of Adam Smith and David Ricardo will introduce the concerns of political economy before the course focuses on Karl Marx’s attempt to re-orientate philosophy through the critique of political economy.
This course will provide an introduction to theories of personality and counseling, including psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, behavioral, and family systems approaches. Theories will be examined in relation to their key concepts, view of human nature, therapeutic processes, techniques and procedures. Theories will be critiqued and compared, with special emphasis on the application of cultural and ethical issues.Why do psychologists do what they do in psychotherapy? Most of them draw on certain concepts and theories of what it is to be a human being. Such concepts guide the therapeutic relationship, the kinds of therapeutic goals that are set, and how therapists intervene to meet these goals. This course covers a broad range of psychotherapeutic theories including but not limited to cognitive-behavioral, humanistic-existential, feminist, cultural, and family system approaches. As the field is moving towards a plurality of treatment options, the guiding framework of the course is What treatment is the most effective for a particular individual with a specific problem under a given set of circumstance? rather than What is the best theory of psychotherapy? Lectures, readings, case studies, class discussions, and experiential class exercises will be used to facilitate the exploration of the theories and techniques of major approaches to psychotherapy.
This course introduces students to the basic aspects of human cognition. How do humans think? How do we come to know the world? The course will concentrate on the classic topics in adult cognition: pattern recognition, memory, attention, categorization, problem-solving, reasoning, and decision-making. Special emphasis will be placed on cross-cultural aspects of cognition.
This course discusses the intellectual foundations of contemporary psychology. Students learn about the concepts, theories and experiments basic to an understanding of the discipline, including classic thought and recent advances in psychology such as psychoanalysis, learning theory, biological mechanisms, developmental, social, cognitive, personality and abnormal psychology.
Course description coming soon.
This course provides knowledge – but also provokes the student’s knowledge on the mind-brain relationship. Phenomena in brain-damaged patients teach us how the brain creates our mind. We will talk about how memory, language, visual perception, but also social processes or the body image are represented in the brain. This course is not a standard neuropsychology course and is accessible for non-psychology students.
This course inquires into the nature and dynamics of how groups (families, institutions, countries, etc.) reconstruct and represent the past together. The problem of social memory is approached from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students will have the opportunity to explore various places of memory in Paris and examine how these historical events are constructed in the present.
Studies the nature and causes o individual behavior and thought in social situations. Presents the basic fields of study that compose the science of social psychology, and how its theories impact on most aspects of people’s lives. Topics of study include: conformity, persuasion, mass communication, propaganda, aggression, attraction, prejudice, and altruism.
Topics vary by semester.
Provides conceptual tools for the personal and professional development of future business graduates. Explores the responsibilities of managers and those engaged in business from a deontological and consequentialist perspective. Discusses the roles and responsibilities of organizations as corporate citizens. Learning methods include the use of case studies, individual reflective thinking and group discussions.*Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
This course introduces students to the important managerial issues in information systems today, such as how to best use information technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness in a firm. Students will also learn how to use software to support business decision-making.
Stimulating the intercultural sensitivity, understanding and managing cultural differences are vital business concerns. This course examines different cultures and mindsets, the fundamental elements of intercultural management, and working in an international context: organization, leadership, multicultural teams, intercultural communication, meetings and presentations, manners and taboos. The impact of cultural differences is examined in key activities (managing, communicating, coaching, decision-making, organizing, controlling); and key situations (meetings, negotiations, presentations, sales calls).
Teams of student-managers compete in an integrated, international business simulation designed to introduce them to business concepts. Students will manage a company operating in the international digital camera market. Using a hands-on experiential approach, teams make management, marketing, human resources, operations, finance and corporate social responsibility decisions that allow them to meet their firms objectives over ten fiscal years. Students are graded on company performance, and on individual and group analysis of the situation at hand.
This course navigates students step by step through the practical core of entrepreneurship. Students learn what entrepreneurs and investors should consider before launching a lean start-up. The students are asked to bring to class venture ideas they nurture or have already started to develop. After a round of selecting viable ideas are road tested guided by the concepts and tools provided in the textbooks. Teams are formed around these venture ideas to execute the feasibility study.
This course is an introduction to numerical techniques for the valuation and hedging of financial investment instruments such as options and other derivatives. It emphasizes the implementation and use-selected models, and links them to related optimization techniques, such as stochastic programming. It is aimed at providing the basic necessary analytical skills useful to working in financial firms and investment banks.
Examines finance as the practical application of economic theory and accounting data in the procurement and employment of capital funds. Applies the principles of strong fiscal planning and control to asset investment, and debt and equity financing decisions. Emphasizes sound leveraging in view of the time value of money, subject to the pernicious effects of taxation and inflation.
Introduces the basics of financial accounting and reporting for corporations. Studies how to measure and record accounting data and prepare financial statements. Emphasizes the effects of transactions on the financial condition of a company and explores the technical aspects of the principles underlying published financial statements.
Provides a basic introduction to the concepts of accounting for purposes of management control and management decision-making. Topics include: budgeting, budget variance analysis, break-even analysis, product cost accounting, and relevant cost analysis.
This course introduces students to the international business environment domains. It covers multinational corporation strategic imperatives and organizational challenges. It also addresses the following questions: What differentiates a global industry from a domestic one? What are the sources of competitive advantage in a global context? What organizational structural alternatives are available to multinationals?*Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Briefly examines the great legal families in the world: Common Law, Civil Law, Socialist Law, and Islamic Law. Within the Civil Law family, emphasizes French Contract Law and then explores the law of the European Union. Studies the legal aspects of international business transactions and uses major international and European projects to examine the principles discussed.
Introduces various aspects of the process by which people work to achieve organizational goals, and the structure and functions of the organization in which they occur. Using lectures, discussions, and case studies, the course focuses on the problems and challenges facing international management in the fields of planning, controlling, and organizing resources, time, and personnel. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Focuses on identifying and solving managerial problems that occur in the production and the delivery of goods and services. Studies project management, job design, capacity and layout planning, forecasting, inventory and quality control. Includes a mixture of mathematical models and case studies that help illustrate practical applications of the concepts.
Concentrates on functional skills already acquired by students in the area of general management and corporate and business-level strategy. Through case studies, lecture/discussions, presentations, and the Business Strategy Game simulation, students perfect analytical skills, problem-solving ability, and the application of strategy concepts to the formation and implementation of strategy.
Consumer behavior lies at the crossroads of marketing, psychology, economics and anthropology. We employ theories developed in these fields to help predict how consumers will respond to various marketing stimuli. We examine the impact of purchase involvement on consumer decision making; the various kinds of decision models used by consumers; and the influence of attitude, culture, demographics, emotions, learning, memory, motivation, personality and perception on our behavior as consumers. Consumer behavior attempts to understand the consumption activities of individuals as opposed to markets.
Introduces marketing concepts and their use in contemporary management. Considers how individuals and firms process information to make decisions, and how firms determine and meet customer demands and needs. Through lectures, discussions, case studies, and written analyses, the course examines the marketing function from a strategic and functional point of view. Considers marketing in the US and in an international context.*Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
The great advertising man, Bill Bernbach, once said Everyone talks these days about what has changed. I look for what never changes. Advertising is rapidly changing, indeed, as todays mature consuming societies and new technologies force new communication challenges & solutions. Yet the principles and disciplines that lead to effective advertising have not changed. and are unlikely to in the foreseeable future. This course will be presented in the spirit of Bernbach’s wisdom, i.e. developing an understanding of what never changes and applying those disciplines to our rapidly changing communications world.
The skills learned in this course will prepare students for upper-division communication courses, and provide students with basic research methods in the field of communication. Students will become familiar with a range of research methods (survey, interview, ethnography, discourse, and political economy).
This course provides an overview of political communication theories, modes, means and institutions and serves as an introduction to how communication scholars study politics and the media. We will cover prevalent political communication theories and trends, the relationship between political institutions and the press both in the US and in other countries, elections, debates, political campaigning and advertising, new media and politics, political socialization, education, politics and popular culture.
Fashion journalism is undergoing a major shift with the advent of new technology. In order to understand this revolution, we shall consider the larger context in which fashion coverage is being played out. We shall look at newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, and the web.How fashion can be presented: as spectacle, as image, as art, as craft, and as commercial, industrial entity will be given consideration.An introduction to the major players and characters in the fashion world will also be a part of this course.
This course aims to explore the histories of non-western fashion, crafts, and industries of a variety of countries. The course gives students the opportunity to explore new fields of fashion history while at the same time providing them with research methods such as image, object and film analysis, and exhibition study.
This course provides a survey of the media and its function in todays society. It introduces students to the basic concepts and tools necessary to think critically about media institutions and practices. In addition to the analysis of diverse media texts, the course considers wider strategies and trends in marketing, distribution, audience formation and the consequences of globalization. By semesters end, students will understand the basic structures of todays media and be able to provide advanced analysis that weighs the social and political implications of its products.
Please note that this course may have prerequisites.
This is the capstone course for Marketing Communications interested Seniors. It requires them to use the skills acquired from all their other Communications and Business Courses: research; management; marketing; interpersonal communications; rhetoric; etc. The course seeks to develop student capacity to analyze global communications and branding strategies of commercial companies and how they manage their brands. They learn the entire process of how brands are built and marketed and how corporations use the tools of advertising, promotion, packaging, public relations, events, sponsorships, internal communications and more to create a desired image and identity for their brands. This course is designed to give students an understanding of how strategic brand marketing is actually practiced today. As such, it employs the Harvard Business School Case Study method and teamwork throughout.
This course introduces students to key concepts, theories and texts in the study of gender and media in a global context. By examining a range of media texts, modes of representation and production, we can analyze established patterns of how gender has come to be depicted and constructed by media, but also changes and challenges to these patterns. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of power, discourse and ideology in these contexts. Topics of study will include gender roles, body image, empowerment, spectatorship and performance, sexuality, stereotypes and exploitation; examples will be drawn from media forms including advertising, film, television, journalism and the internet. An overview of important feminist, poststructuralist and queer theories will be central to critical approaches to this material.
Examines how constitutional and statutory law define and protect media in different countries. Introduces students to libel law, copyright and author’s rights, commercial rights issues, and variations across countries. Examines the role of government institutions and regulatory bodies in formulating policy on matters such as children’s television and advertising regulation. Explores the process of self-regulation and issues of journalist’s ethics.*Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
An introduction to writing features and guide books for the travel market. Students will gain insight into the changing set of processes linked to the practice of contemporary, commodified travel, and the way space for tourist use is represented and used. Urban place-making and branding strategies are examined. Students will practice writing in a variety of travel genres.
The question of how, where and when to communicate science is more important than ever. Scientists often work in their own disciplinary spheres, and usually receive little or no training on how to communicate their research more broadly. Traversing a global pandemic has brought questions of communication to the fore. In this course, we will explore a series of hot topics that have been in the news over recent years to examine the science and its communication. During the semester, students will write and produce different kinds of media around specific topics.Scientific disciplines have traditionally shaped their own forms of communication. For example, conservation biologists might be more used to working with local or national governments and organizations, while laboratory or theoretical scientists might have limited contact with the outside world beyond applying for specialized grants. This course will bridge the gap between scientific discourse and its effects by exploring the many ways that science can, should, and should not be communicated to various audiences. How do the original scientific publications differ from the medias explanations of these studies? What happens to the language of science as it is adapted to mass media communication? Which channels have more impact as we move from an era of mass media to social media? How do we gauge the quality of the articles, podcasts, and videos we are viewing? What specific strategies do journalists use to capture our attention, to explain complex scientific concepts, and to convince us that these topics are important? How do these strategies and techniques differ across different kinds of media?
Topics vary. Using analytic skills learned in core courses, students work with an AUP faculty member, visiting scholar or professional in an area of current interest in the field to be determined by the instructor and the faculty of the Global Communications department.
Sound studies explores sound from an interdisciplinary perspective, considering its techniques and technologies, the social and political aspects of sound/music production and consumption, and the phenomenology of listening and acoustics, among other topics. This class combines hands-on practice-based projects, core theoretical texts, and visits to concerts, gallery shows, and other sound and music related events to introduce students to the core questions of sound studies and to cultivate basic skills for making sound art/digital music. Practice-based lessons may cover: speakers, various mics, soldering, basics of electricity/circuits, deep listening, soundwalks/sound in space, field recording, and digital audio editing. This is coupled with readings and discussions of contemporary sound art and new music, race and gender in sound and music, and the politics of listening. Students will produce a final project in sound/music using the critical and technical skills developed in the course and will be prepared for future projects and more advanced courses in sound/music. A special course fee will be applied to this course.
This course provides historical background to understand how contemporary communication practices and technologies have developed and are in the process of developing and reflects on what communication has been in different human societies across time and place. It considers oral and literate cultures, the development of writing systems, of printing, and different cultural values assigned to the image. The parallel rise of mass media and modern western cultural and political forms and the manipulation and interplay of the properties and qualities conveyed by speech, sight, and sound are studied with reference tot he printed book, newspapers, photography, radio, cinema, television, new media. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
This course provides an overview of political communication theories, modes, means and institutions and serves as an introduction to how communication scholars study politics and the media. We will cover prevalent political communication theories and trends, the relationship between political institutions and the press both in the US and in other countries, elections, debates, political campaigning and advertising, new media and politics, political socialization, education, politics and popular culture.
What is globalization? Why study the media? What is the relationship between the media and globalization? What are the consequences of media globalization on our lives and identities? This course critically explores these questions ad challenging issues that confront us today. Globalization can be understood as a multi-dimensional, complex process of profound transformations in all spheres–technological, economic, political, social, cultural, intimate and personal. Yet much of the current debates of globalization tend to be concerned with “out there” macro-processes, rather than what is happening “in-here,” in the micro-processes of our lives. This course explores both the macro and the micro. It encourages students to develop an enlarged way of thinking–challenging existing paradigms and providing comparative perspectives. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Please note that this course may have prerequisites.
This seminar course examines the connection between pop culture and international relations. The course is designed to provide students with the conceptual tools to possess a critical awareness of how flows and consumption of pop cultural products movies, TV programs, cartoons, videogames, fast food, luxury goods, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — play a role in shaping not only cultural realities globally, but also can affect the perceived stakes and outcomes of economic, political, military interests. The course will examine the dominance of Western pop culture as well as regional and local cultural spheres to give students comparative perspective. Students will prepare a research abstract on a specific topic, present findings in-class during the course of the semester, and submit a research paper at the end of the semester.
This hands-on workshop trains students in audio journalism in a real-time newsroom and production studio setting. Students will gain skills working with audio production equipment and editing tools. Students will contribute radio journalism and podcast pieces to the Peacock student media platform.
This workshop trains students in magazine writing and production through hands-on experience working on a high-quality student magazine, the Peacock. Students participate in a newsroom setting in a variety of roles — from writing and editing to pagination and layout — to produce the Peacock in both print and online versions. Students will learn researching and writing techniques as well as how to interview and source stories for magazines. They will gain pre-professional experience preparing them for entry-level positions in magazine journalism whether print publications or online magazines. Note: Up to 8 credits for Journalism Practica can be applied toward the degree.
This hands-on workshop trains students in video journalism in a real-time newsroom and production studio setting. Students will gain skills working with video production equipment and editing tools including Final Cut Pro. Students will contribute video journalism pieces to PTV, the video platform linked to the student media website where their video work contributes to the content mix of news pieces, video work, and magazine stories. Students will produce short video stories, narratives and interviews for the site. They will edit video pieces, post on YouTube, and use social media to promote their stories. The course will prepare students for entry-level positions in video journalism and for more advanced AUP courses in video and broadcast journalism. Note: Up to 8 credits for Journalism Practica can be applied toward the degree
Studies rhetoric as a historical phenomenon and as a practical reality. Considers how words and images are used to convince and persuade individuals of positions, arguments or actions to undertake, with particular attention to advertising, politics and culture. Studies the use of reason, emotion, and commonplaces, and compares visual and verbal techniques of persuasion.
The course is a basic primer on digital video and film making. It introduces students to digital video procedures, equipment, techniques and options, including use of cameras and familiarity with editing systems. Students will become proficient in the use of digital video technology and see how to prepare program material for the web, broadcast and other outlets.Crosslisted as FM 1019
In this digital tools training course, students will learn skills and gain hands-on experience with a range of digital publishing tools to build and curate a web platform with compelling, sharable content. They will become familiar with key storytelling platforms and technologies including WordPress, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. They will acquire hands-on experience with essential software including Adobe’s Photoshop, Illustrator, Encoder, and Final Cut Pro; and they will learn to manipulate HTML and CSS with a basic Integrated Design Environment. In this highly hands-on course, students will learn basic web design and work collaboratively to create and launch a dynamic new digital brand online.
Have you yearned to start a novel, a collection of related short stories or narrative essays, a memoir, or a series of poems? This cross-genre, seminar-style course is designed for students who want to pursue larger, more advanced creative writing projects. Students will submit project proposals for discussion and approval, and then present significant installments of writing at regular intervals during the semester. Revisions will be required along with student-professor individual conferences. Readings will be used as guiding examples, and required reaction papers will be tailored to individual projects.
Introduces the methodology of Gender Studies and the theory upon which it is based. Examines contemporary debates across a range of issues now felt to be of world-wide feminist interest: sexuality, reproduction, production, writing, representation, culture, race, and politics. Encourages responsible theorizing across disciplines and cultures. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Offers a detailed investigation of The Divine Comedy. Traces Dante’s development in several related areas (love, mysticism, allegory, poetics, politics) and his affinity with other key cultural figures (Virgil, St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Thomas, Boccaccio). Includes an overview of medieval history.
Examines the major tenets, philosophical perspectives, and critical orientations of literary theory from Plato and Aristotle to the present. Students study critical texts from literary and non- literary disciplines, schools, and voices that have come to impact the Western theoretical canon, including psychoanalysis, Marxism, Russian formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, feminism, queer theory, new historicism, and post-colonialism.*Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Workshops a range of professional writing and presentation skills for the cultural sphere (cultural journalism, reviewing, grant applications, creative pitches, page layout). Students collectively produce and maintain a website of cultural activity in Paris. Practical work is placed in culturaland theoretical contexts, including introduction to the publication industry, legal contexts, and cultural studies. 4 Credits. Offered periodically.
Considers closely three moments when the practice of writing changed radically in response to historical and cultural processes, from 1800 to the present day (specific contents change each year). Investigates the forces that inform creative imagination and cultural production. Places those moments and those forces within a geographical and historical map of literary production, and introduces the tools of literary analysis.
This workshop gives students the opportunity to explore through reading, research, and writing assignments an array of creative nonfiction forms, including memoir, travel writing, food and nature writing, and social essays. Students share their writing for peer critique in a supportive and constructive workshop environment. Creative nonfiction includes guest speakers and field exercises in Paris. Conferences and a final portfolio are required.
In this course, students practice writing fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry while exploring the boundaries between genres. The workshop format includes guided peer critique of sketches, poems, and full-length works presented in class and discussion and analysis of literary models. In Fall, students concentrate on writing techniques. In Spring, the workshop is theme-driven.
Whether a story is an imaginative transformation of life experience or an invention, the writing must be well crafted and convincing, driven not only by plot and theme but also through characterization, conflict, point of view, and sensitivity to language. Students produce and critique short stories and novel chapters while studying fiction techniques and style through examples.
In this workshop students will concentrate on all aspects of prose fiction writing. They will look deeply at language and how and when it conveys meaning. They will also delve into our personal stories and the themes and narratives that both make us who we are and which we may write most effectively out of. Students will concentrate on what makes a strong sentence, paragraph and scene and what is needed to build a story from beginning to end. As well as writing exercises and journal keeping, every student will write, by workshop end, a full story. They will also read published work as examples, both classic and contemporary. Some of the authors we may read are Chekhov, Mansfield, Alice Monroe, Lydia Davis, Samantha Hunt, Rick Moody, and Ben Marcus. We will also read the work of Parisian authors both past and present, including Victor Hugo, Samuel Beckett, and Gertrude Stein.
Trips around Paris will supplement class time.
This project-based course provides an in-depth understanding of how the computer game design process works. Students with little or no programming experience will learn how to create their own computer games using either “drag-and-drop” game engines to create 2Dimensional and 3Dimensional games without and programming or computer programming for wireless devices (cell phones), using a subset og Java programming language J2ME, with examples from the game development process. No prerequisites. 4 Credits. Offered periodically.
The course is an introduction to digital logic and computer organization and architecture. It examines the internal structure and functioning of a modern computer system, emphasizing both the fundamental principles and the role of performance in computer design. The topics covered are: data representation, digital logic, the instruction-set architecture, machine and assembly language programming, micro programming, storage and access techniques, input and output.
This is the second part of the foundation course for the Information and Communication Technologies degree program. Successful students will have a thorough knowledge of the computer language Java, the systematic development of programs, problem-solving and a knowledge of some of the fundamental algorithms of computer science. Essential concepts include inheritance, polymorphism, and error-handling, using exceptions.
Introduces the field of computer science and the fundamental concepts of programming from an object-oriented perspective using the programming language Java. Starts with practical problem-solving and leads to the study and analysis of simple algorithms, data types, control structures, and use of simple data structures such as arrays and strings.
Studies the design and implementation of general-purpose operating systems on digital computers: memory management, virtual memory, storage hierarchy evaluation, multiprogramming, process creation, synchronization, deadlock, message communication, parallel programming constructs, I/O management, and file systems. Includes case studies of major operating systems.
This is a conceptual physics course for non-scientists. It discusses the principles of physics involved in the production, distribution and consumption of energy using various types of fuel. It also considers the environmental issues related to the use of fossil fuels from a scientific viewpoint. Renewable sources of energy and the economic and political implications of their development as well as ways of conserving energy are also discussed. Must take lab. Not open to students with credit in or concurrent enrollment in PH 1000.
This course is intended to introduce non-scientists to key concepts and approaches in the study of the environment. With a focus on the scientific method, we learn about natural systems using case studies of disruptions caused by human activity. Topics include global warming, deforestation, waste production and recycling, water pollution, environmental toxins and sustainable development. The relationships between science and policy, the media, and citizen action are also addressed. Must take lab.
Applied Differential Equations takes the study of differential equations, begun in Calculus 1, to the next level, and further allows students a first meeting with difference equations.The first, and larger part of the course, deals with differential equations (DE’s) — linear and non-linear DE’s; first andn higer-order DE’s and systems of DE’s; ordinary DE’s and partiall DE’s. Examples come from population dynamics (in various species), hydrostatic equations for water and air, wave equations (for exemple sound waves, water waves, seismics waves,…)The second part of the course looks at difference equations, with both time and space differencing connections with differentiation; solutions (numerically as well as algebraically); analysis of solutions in terms of convergence and stability. The one-way wave equation (advection equation) is looked at in more detail.
Introduces the tools of statistical analysis. Combines theory with extensive data collection and computer-assisted laboratory work. Develops an attitude of mind accepting uncertainty and variability as part of problem analysis and decision-making. Topics include: exploratory data analysis and data transformation, hypothesis-testing and the analysis of variance, simple and multiple regression with residual and influence analyses.
Introduces differential and integral calculus. Develops the concepts of calculus as applied to polynomials, logarithmic, and exponential functions. Topics include: limits, derivatives, techniques of differentiation, applications to extrema and graphing; the definite integral; the fundamental theorem of calculus, applications; logarithmic and exponential functions, growth and decay; partial derivatives. Appropriate for students in the biological, management, computer and social sciences.
This course is designed to highlight discrete mathematical structures. Discusses propositional logic, proofs and mathematical induction, matrices of relations and digraphs, set theory and number bases, combinatorial analysis, graph theory and Boolean algebra.
Intermediate Algebra is for students who need a review before proceeding further in mathematics. The class meets once per week. Topics include linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, graphs, polynomials, factoring, radical expressions, 2×2 systems of linear equations, integer exponents and scientific notation.
A General Education course designed for students majoring in subjects not requiring math skills, and those who dislike math. Projects are developed from a range of everyday situations: banking, the stock market, gambling, and even art. Meeting alternately in the classroom and the computer lab to develop mathematical models, students will develop quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Offers a practical workshop in the art of acting and dramatic expression. Students learn to bring texts to life on stage through a variety of approaches to performance. This course develops valuable analytical skills through play analysis, as well as building confidence in presentation and group communications skills through acting techniques and the rehearsal and performance of play scenes.
Examines the transformation from primitive economic structures into modern industrial states in historical perspective, across international boundaries and from the viewpoint of the great economic theorists of the past. Weighs various factors and indicators, ranging from demographic shifts in the population to technological adaptation as preconditions for the process of economic development and sustained growth.
Examines the determinants of the levels of national income, employment, rates of interest, and prices. Studies in detail the instruments of monetary and fiscal policy, highlighting the domestic and international repercussions of their implementation.
Focuses on the role played by relative market prices in our society and on the forces of market supply and demand in determining these prices. Since the actions of consumers and firms underlie supply and demand, the course studies in detail the behavior of these two groups.
What are the justifications and implications of using markets, and what arrangements are necessary to establish and protect the commons? This course studies foundational texts of (neo) liberal economics that aim to legitimize market mechanisms; philosophical treatments and critiques of key concepts, such as rationality and motivation, property and common goods; political analyses of how allocative institutions produce distributional outcomes.
Studies in depth factors influencing aggregate supply and demand, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, and international payments. Develops an analytic framework for the purpose of investigating the interrelationships among principal macroeconomic aggregates. Discusses current issues and controversies regarding macroeconomic policies.
The senior research seminar in economics provides students with a capstone experience in economics. Using the quantitative tools, students will embark on an empirical research project in economics that interests them most.
Offers a practical workshop in the art of acting and dramatic expression. Students learn to bring texts to life on stage through a variety of approaches to performance. This course develops valuable analytical skills through play analysis, as well as building confidence in presentation and group communications skills through acting techniques and the rehearsal and performance of play scenes.
Have you yearned to start a novel, a collection of related short stories or narrative essays, a memoir, or a series of poems? This cross-genre, seminar-style course is designed for students who want to pursue larger, more advanced creative writing projects. Students will submit project proposals for discussion and approval, and then present significant installments of writing at regular intervals during the semester. Revisions will be required along with student-professor individual conferences. Readings will be used as guiding examples, and required reaction papers will be tailored to individual projects.
Taught through thematically-linked works of literature from the Ancient world to the present day. Stresses expository writing, accurate expression, and logical organization of ideas in academic writing. Recent themes include: Childhood, Friendship from Aristotle to Derrida, Social Organization and Alienation, Monstrosity, and Music and Literature.
This workshop gives students the opportunity to explore through reading, research, and writing assignments an array of creative nonfiction forms, including memoir, travel writing, food and nature writing, and social essays. Students share their writing for peer critique in a supportive and constructive workshop environment. Creative nonfiction includes guest speakers and field exercises in Paris. Conferences and a final portfolio are required.
In this course, students practice writing fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry while exploring the boundaries between genres. The workshop format includes guided peer critique of sketches, poems, and full-length works presented in class and discussion and analysis of literary models. In Fall, students concentrate on writing techniques. In Spring, the workshop is theme-driven. May be taken twice for credit.
Emphasizes the stages required to produce a polished, articulate essay by practicing the necessary components of excellent academic writing: sharpening critical thinking skills, organizing ideas, choosing appropriate and dynamic words, varying prose style, editing, refining, and proofreading.
A series of topic-centered courses refining the skills of academic essay writing, studying a wide range of ideas as expressed in diverse literary genres and periods. Introduces the analysis of literary texts and gives training in the writing of critical essays and research papers. Recent topics include: Utopia and Anti-Utopia, City as Metaphor, Portraits of Women, Culture Conflict, and Labyrinths.
This course aims to teach the fundamentals of directing – story boarding, preparation of a shooting script, choice of camera angles and lenses, etc. – and show the relationship between the technical and creative aspects of film making. Students will analyze direction in films and work as small production teams on their own short films to illustrate the “how and why” of film technique’s influence on story-telling and character portrayal.
Examines film theory with two motives: how does it help us read individual films, and what does it tell us about this medium? Studies theorists such as Sergei Eisenstein, Andre Bazin, Robin Wood, Christian Metz, Joan Mellen, Laura Mulvey, and Gaylyn Studlar, in relation to certain seminal films – Potemkin, Citizen Kane, Vertigo, A bout de souffle, and Pulp Fiction
Students begin with an analysis of basic elements of film language (signs, codes, syntax). They study the technology, economics and politics of the film industry as it has developed in the United States and Europe. In the latter half of the course they will investigate the impact of television, video, computers and digital media in the history of cinema.
This course is a complex introduction to the ever-evolving art form that is cinema. We will use lecture, screenings, readings and presentations to introduce the ways cinema works to make meaning. With a firm grounding in history, students will screen films and examine the artists who made them along with the technological, economic and political aspects of the film industry that shaped their creation and reception. In studying the dynamic evolution, we will also investigate the impact of new technological and cultural expectations on the evolving art form. *Global Leaders Certificate Program approved course
Studies film history, aesthetics, and techniques of film analysis. Illustrates the basic theories of film-making with specific films of important directors such as Griffith, Einstein, Stroheim, Chaplin, Keaton, Murnau, Sternberg, Lubitsch, Renoir, Hawks, Ford, Welles, and Sturges.
This seminar, geared toward Junior film majors, we will take a critical look at self-reflexive films, films that reference filmmaking, in order to explore a series of film ideas. We’ll screen and analyze films from early cinema and cartoons to classic Hollywood musicals along with works from independent and experimental cinema. We’ll examine work from directors like Jonze, Kiarostami, and Haneke and important films from Iran, Korea, Britain and France. As we explore these films and changing attitudes toward constructed realities, the student will deepen their critical skills. The workshop will also strengthen student understanding of how notions of self-reflexivity arise out of different historical periods and contexts and how self-reflexivity can deconstruct accepted cultural patterns and norms.
Over the past twenty years, Granada, HBO, and the BBC have been creating series such as The Singing Detective, Cracker, MI5, The Sopranos, and The Wire that are much darker and more persuasive and perverse than anything else on television or on the big screen. Students will examine these ‘visual texts,’ and will also outline one or two series of their own, working on individual scenes that will be dramatized in class.
Indian cinema is a powerful aesthetic and cultural influence in the contemporary world, from the works of great auteurs to the cultural and industrial powerhouse of Bollywood cinema. In this course, we will look at Indian cinema from Bollywood and beyond, unpacking the ways in which cinema emerges from an exchange of cultural, national and economic constraints and conditions. In addition to an exploration of Bollywood cinema, we will explore the ways Indian regional cinemas Tamil, Telegu or Bengali cinemas relate to Hindi films and how Indian alternative film movements relate to commercial production. We will ask, which of these if any, constitute a national cinema’ and explore the way genre transforms to negotiate shifting gender roles and other aspects of India cultural life. Finally, we will explore the way Indian cinema influences, and is transformed by its place on the international stage.
The lavish imaginary worlds that cinematic technology made it possible to create became part of the earliest film-making endeavors in both America and Europe. In this course, students overview the roots of science fiction and fantastic cinema, from early experimental filming to short fiction to the Freudian concept of the uncanny. They analyse how these early developments have shaped the film-making decisions of directors such as Lynch, Gilliam, Kurosawa and others. The focus of the course is not only on science fiction and fantasy as genres but also on their role in the evolution of cinematic storytelling. A special section on the birth of the Sci-fi Hollywood dynasty is also featured.
Over the past twenty years, Granada, HBO, and the BBC have been creating series such as The Singing Detective, Cracker, MI5, The Sopranos, and The Wire that are much darker and more persuasive and perverse than anything else on television or on the big screen. Students will examine these ‘visual texts,’ and will also outline one or two series of their own, working on individual scenes that will be dramatized in class.
This course explores political manipulation, sexual deception, polite lies, theories of untruth, and totalitarian mass culture. It aims to encourage critical thinking and analysis in relation to visual, oral, and written sources.The class will combine lectures with discussion and close readings of assigned texts.
This course examines the historical development of the Middle East from the rise of the Ottoman Empire to its decline, and later from colonial rule to national independence. It covers the Arab World, Turkey and Iran and follows four main general themes: Reform, Colonialism, Nationalism and Revolution. The course is divided into two main sections which are organised chronologically and thematically. The first part of the course deals with the formation of the Ottoman Empire, its expansion, and the rise of Safavids in Persia. It then covers the reform movements in the Ottoman and Persian (Qajar) Empires, the influence of Europe and the political and social upheaval brought about by the outbreak of revolutions in the early 20th century. Indigenous responses to European penetration and indigenous reform are analysed through an understanding of revolutionary movements, and the rise of nationalism. The second part of the course examines the emergence of states in the Arab World, the British French accords and declarations, the question of Palestine and the Zionist activism and the debates around Secularism vs. Islam.
This course is designed to introduce students to the historical foundations of legal thought and to cultivate literacy in legal reasoning. The course provides an essential resource for our future global citizens by exploring key legal texts, histories and cases and familiarizing students with the historical origins of key contemporary legal issues.
TBA
Topics vary by semester.
Is it unjust that there are huge economic inequalities between people of different countries? If so, who is responsible for rectifying these injustices? Should individuals enjoy the liberty to move freely across countries? How fair is free trade? The course explores these and other questions of global justice from philosophical and social-scientific perspectives.
Briefly examines the great legal families in the world: Common Law, Civil Law, Socialist Law, and Islamic Law. Within the Civil Law family, emphasizes French Contract Law and then explores the law of the European Union. Studies the legal aspects of international business transactions and uses major international and European projects to examine the principles discussed.
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